The Manhic¸a Health Research Centre [Centro de Investigac¸~ao em Sau´de de Manhic¸a (CISM)] has been running a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) since 1996, in the district of Manhic¸a, 80 km North of Maputo City (the capital of Mozambique). As indicated in the original cohort profile,1 the objective of this HDSS is to provide a platform for conducting biomedical research in local priority areas such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and invasive bacterial diseases (IBDs), and to promote the training of young Mozambican scientists in biomedical, demographic, anthropological and other critical research areas.